Various vacuum-type coffee makers generally include an upper brewing unit and a lower carafe which are mechanically coupled to form a seal therebetween. In using a vacuum-type coffee maker, a certain amount of coffee is added to the upper brewing unit, the lower carafe is filled with an amount of water, and then the upper brewing unit is mechanically coupled to the lower carafe by an interlocking mechanism. When attempting to interlock the upper brewing unit and lower carafe, various mechanical features must be aligned in order to ensure that a proper seal is formed between the upper brewing unit and lower carafe. Alignment of the interlocking features is often cumbersome and therefore difficult to ensure the proper seal is formed. Thus, a vacuum-type coffee maker having a pre-interlock alignment system is desired.